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Abstract:

Provided is an alveolar bone regenerative unit and an alveolar bone
regenerative apparatus capable of regeneration treatment for an alveolar
bone by sterilizing a periodontium and activating an osteoblast. The
alveolar bone regenerative unit includes an active needle electrode of a
metal electrode generating heat by power supply and a handle attached to
a base of the active needle electrode. The active needle electrode is
25.0 to 41.0 mm long and 0.08 to 0.47 mm in diameter, on which a
strippable coat is formed with silicon resin. Supplying power to the
active needle electrode causes heat generation at a high temperature
because of the thin diameter. The high temperature and electric energy
can kill bacteria around a root, thereby being able to activate an
osteoblast and regenerate an alveolar bone.

Claims:

1. An alveolar bone regenerative apparatus comprising: an alveolar bone
regenerative unit; and an electro-surgical unit supplying power to the
alveolar bone regenerative unit, wherein the alveolar bone regenerative
unit comprises an active needle electrode of a metal electrode generating
heat by power supply and a handle attached to a base of the active needle
electrode; the active needle electrode is 25.0 to 41.0 mm long and 0.08
to 0.47 mm in diameter, on which a coat is formed with silicon resin of
which any part can be stripped off; and the electro-surgical unit
supplies a current of a tone-burst wave.

2. The alveolar bone regenerative apparatus according to claim 1, wherein
the active needle electrode has a spiral shape.

3. The alveolar bone regenerative apparatus according to claim 1, wherein
the active needle electrode has a tapered shape with the base being thick
and a tip being sharp.

4. The alveolar bone regenerative apparatus according to claim 1, wherein
the tip of the active needle electrode is 0.08 to 0.15 mm in diameter.

Description:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention

[0002] The present invention relates to an alveolar bone regenerative
apparatus and, more particularly, to a treatment apparatus for
regenerating an absorbed alveolar bone to be healthy.

[0003] 2. Description of the Related Art

[0004] In a human tooth structure, a root of the tooth is surrounded and
supported by an alveolar bone, and connected to a jawbone. The tooth is
also surrounded by a gingiva at an upper side of the alveolar bone. When
the tooth is decayed and bacteria in a nerve of the tooth reach a
periphery of the root through a root canal, etiological agents are
released to the alveolar bone for melting and absorbing the bone. This is
called a root apex lesion.

[0005] As the alveolar bone is absorbed due to the root apex lesion, the
tooth is not supported by the alveolar bone and becomes loose. According
to the present treatment, tooth extraction is preformed if the alveolar
bone is absorbed up to two thirds of the root or by 8 mm.

[0006] However, once the tooth extraction is performed, the tooth cannot
be regenerated again. Because of this, a treatment without the tooth
extraction is preferable.

[0008] As shown in FIG. 7, this apparatus is an apparatus 10 for treating
and devitalizing a vascular-nervous bundle of a decayed tooth, including
a first electrode 100 in the form of needle inserted to an aperture of
the tooth; a second electrode 64 attached to a patient's body; and an
electric circuit electrically connected between a neutral handle 60
electrically connected to the second electrode 64 and the second
electrode 64. The electric circuit includes an RF pulser generating
high-frequency pulses for destroying or coagulating the vascular-nervous
bundle in contact with the first electrode 100, wherein the second
electrode 64 is attached to a lip of the patient, calculated is a tip
position of the first electrode 100 guided by the root canal connected to
a root apex of a tooth, and then high-frequency pulses are transmitted
from the RF pulser to the first electrode 100.

[0009] According to the conventional technique, a pulp is devitalized only
and the root apex lesion cannot be cured. That is, the bad alveolar bone
cannot be regenerated.

[0010] In view of the above circumstances, an object of the present
invention is to provide an alveolar bone regenerative apparatus capable
of a regeneration treatment for an alveolar bone by sterilizing a
periodontium and activating an osteoblast.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0011] An alveolar bone regenerative apparatus according to a first
feature of the present invention includes an alveolar bone regenerative
unit and an electro-surgical unit supplying power to the alveolar bone
regenerative unit, wherein the alveolar bone regenerative unit includes
an active needle electrode of a metal electrode generating heat by power
supply and a handle attached to a base of the active needle electrode;
the active needle electrode is 25.0 to 41.0 mm long and 0.08 to 0.47 mm
in diameter, on which a coat is formed with silicon resin of which any
part can be stripped off; and the electro-surgical unit supplies a
current of a tone-burst wave.

[0012] An alveolar bone regenerative apparatus according to a second
feature of the present invention is the first feature of the present
invention, wherein the active needle electrode has a spiral shape.

[0013] An alveolar bone regenerative apparatus according to a third
feature of the present invention is the first feature of the present
invention, wherein the active needle electrode has a tapered shape with
the base being thick and a tip being sharp.

[0014] An alveolar bone regenerative apparatus according to a fourth
feature of the present invention is the first feature of the present
invention, wherein the tip of the active needle electrode is 0.08 to 0.15
mm in diameter.

[0015] According to the first feature of the present invention, following
effects can be obtained.

a) Since the active needle electrode is 0.08 to 0.47 mm in diameter and
25.0 to 41.0 mm long, it can pass through a root canal of a tooth and the
tip thereof can reach a periphery of a root. Supplying power to the
active needle electrode causes heat generation at a high temperature
because of the thin diameter. The high temperature and electric energy
can kill bacteria around the root and activate an osteoblast. Thus,
killing the bacteria and activating the osteoblast cause a root apex
lesion to enter into a healing process, thereby being able to regenerate
an alveolar bone. b) A heat treatment can be performed to a different
part of the lesion by gradually changing a stripped-off part of the coat
of the active needle electrode. c) A lesion tissue can be heat-coagulated
without an incision because a current supplied from the electro-surgical
unit is a tone burst wave and in between waveforms is discontinuous.

[0016] According to the second feature of the present invention, the
active needle electrode can be tightly coated because of the spiral
shape, thereby preventing the coat from being unnoticeably stripped off.

[0017] According to the third feature of the present invention, the active
needle electrode can be easily inserted into the root canal of the tooth
because of the tapered shape with the tip being sharp. Moreover, damages
hardly arise because of the base being thick.

[0018] According to the fourth feature of the present invention, the tip
of the active needle electrode can easily pass through the root canal of
the tooth because of the very sharp tip of 0.08 to 0.15 mm in diameter.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0019] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an alveolar bone regenerative unit A of
an alveolar bone regenerative apparatus of the present invention;

[0020] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a treatment used with the alveolar bone
regenerative unit A of the present invention;

[0021] FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the treatment used with the alveolar
bone regenerative unit A of the present invention;

[0022] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the treatment used with the alveolar
bone regenerative unit A of the present invention;

[0023] FIG. 5 is a table showing results of the treatment used with the
alveolar bone regenerative apparatus of the present invention;

[0024] FIG. 6 shows photographs showing the result of the treatment used
with the alveolar bone regenerative apparatus of the present invention;
and

[0025] FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a conventional apparatus for treating a
root apex lesion.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0026] An embodiment of the present invention is described with reference
to the drawings.

[0027] An alveolar bone regenerative apparatus of the present invention
includes an alveolar bone regenerative unit A and an electro-surgical
unit supplying power to the alveolar bone regenerative unit A. The
alveolar bone regenerative unit A is for regenerating an alveolar bone in
which bone absorption occurs due to a lesion.

[0028] The alveolar bone regenerative unit A of one embodiment of the
present invention is described with reference to FIG. 1. Reference
numeral 1 indicates an active needle electrode, reference numeral 2
indicates a coat and reference numeral 3 indicates a handle.

[0029] The active needle electrode 1 is made of a metal generating heat by
power supply, for which a non-corroding and high biocompatible metal is
used such as stainless steel or nickel-titanium alloy.

[0030] The active needle electrode 1 is preferably 25.0 to 41.0 mm long
and the most preferable is about 31.0 mm. A tip of the active needle
electrode 1 can deeply reach a periphery of a root through a root canal
of a tooth with this length. On the other hand, the tip thereof cannot
reach the periphery of the root with a length shorter than 25.0 mm so
that a regenerative treatment for the tooth cannot be performed. If the
length is longer than 41.0 mm, problems arise such as a bend and a
breakage of the active needle electrode 1. As a result, an operation
becomes difficult.

[0031] The active needle electrode 1 is preferably 0.08 to 0.47 mm in
diameter and the most preferable is about 0.10 mm. The tip of the active
needle electrode 1 can easily pass through the root canal of the tooth
and heat necessary for the treatment can be easily generated with this
diameter. If an outside diameter is smaller than 0.08 mm, low rigidity
easily causes the breakage, resulting in the difficult operation. On the
other hand, if the outside diameter is larger than 0.47 mm, the tip of
the active needle electrode 1 cannot easily pass through the root canal
and sufficient heat cannot be obtained.

[0032] If the active needle electrode 1 has a tapered shape with a base
being thick and a tip being sharp, the tip becomes flexible to easily
pass through the root canal of the tooth. The taper is preferably 1/100
to 6/100 and the most preferable is about 2/100.

[0033] The active needle electrode 1 may have a needle shape with a cross
section thereof being circular from the base to the tip, while it may
also have a spiral shape. As for the spiral shape, a groove may be formed
in a spiral shape around a needle-shaped member or a thin strip may be
wound in spiral shape around the needle-shaped member.

[0034] In the case of the spiral shape, a coat 2 described below can be
tightly formed, thereby being able to prevent the coat 2 from being
unnoticeably stripped off.

[0035] An outside of the active needle electrode 1 is coated with the coat
2.

[0036] Preferably, a material of the coat 2 can be stripped off, for
example, silicon resin. The coat 2 is formed by spreading or spraying it,
or the like.

[0037] The coat 2 specifies an area to be burned in a part of the root
apex lesion. That is, if the coat 2 is stripped off by about 1.0 mm to
expose the active needle electrode 1, heat can be transmitted to a lesion
part only by the stripped-off part. Generally, the coat 2 only at the tip
of the active needle electrode 1 is stripped off by about 1 mm to
generate heat from the tip. Then, a part to be treated is changed by
making an inserted position of the active needle electrode 1 deep or
shallow. On the other hand, a heat treatment can also be performed to a
different part of the lesion by gradually changing a stripped-off part of
the coat 2 and inserting the active needle electrode 1 for irradiation.

[0038] Thus, the lesion part can be treated without a large amount of
current flow at once by limiting a part to be heated to a narrow area.
Further, the heat cannot be generated if the tip of the active needle
electrode 1 is exposed by 5 mm or more.

[0039] A handle 3 is formed at the base of the active needle electrode 1.

[0040] Used is a material that does not transmit heat to a hand at the
time of power supply such as silicon, which is formed so as to be easily
gripped by fingertips.

[0041] Next, usage of the electro-surgical unit supplying power to the
alveolar bone regenerative unit A is described.

[0042] The electro-surgical unit is connected to a DC or AD power source
(for example, a household power source of 100 V) for supplying power to
the alveolar bone regenerative unit A, and includes a known electric
circuit. Additionally, the electro-surgical unit is used with a counter
electrode plate whose area or volume is larger than the alveolar bone
regenerative unit A. Connecting the alveolar bone regenerative unit A and
the counter electrode plate to the electro-surgical unit for power supply
causes heat generation at the active needle electrode 1 with a small
cross section, so that the heat is transmitted to the lesion part from a
small stripped-off part of the coat 2.

[0043] A heat temperature of the active needle electrode 1 is preferably
about 40 to 80° C. at the time of treatment. Because of this, the
active needle electrode 1 made of stainless steel with the above size
requires a current of 80 mA, which can be realized by the household power
source of 100 V.

[0044] For a waveform of a current, a tone-burst wave is preferable to a
continuous wave. A tissue is incised by a flow of a current with the
continuous wave, while the tissue is heat-coagulated by a flow of a
current with the discontinuous tone-burst wave. Herein, the tone-burst
wave indicates a waveform of a half-wave square and each of the waveforms
is discontinuous. Additionally, an arc discharge is easily generated and
charge is stored near the discharge point.

[0045] If irradiation is performed for one second with 20 W±10% and 10
pulses/0.1 s (irradiation like this is called one-shot irradiation
herein), for example, a temperature of the lesion part increases up to
about 40 to 120° C. killing bacteria by the temperature and
electric energy and activating an osteoblast. This seems to enable bone
regeneration.

[0046] Usage of the alveolar bone regenerative unit A of the present
invention is described with reference to FIGS. 2 to 4.

[0047] In FIG. 2, reference character T indicates a tooth, reference
character P indicates a root canal, and reference character S indicates a
lesion part. As shown in the figure, the active needle electrode 1 of the
alveolar bone regenerative unit A is inserted to the lesion part S
through the root canal P of the tooth T. That is, the tip of the active
needle electrode 1 reaches the lesion part S. The active needle electrode
1 of the present invention can reach the lesion part S because of its
long length and thin diameter, which is a big feature thereof.

[0048] As shown in FIG. 3, if the root canal P is bent, the active needle
electrode 1 can be inserted deeply to the root canal P because it is thin
and easily bent. As shown in FIG. 4, if length of the root canal P to the
lesion part S is long, the tip of the active needle electrode 1 can reach
the lesion part S because the active needle electrode 1 has sufficient
length.

[0049] Returning to FIG. 2, if a part of the coat is stripped off by
aboutlmm from the tip of the active needle electrode 1, only the part
transmits generated heat to the lesion part S and the lesion part S can
be coagulated.

[0050] The above one-shot irradiation is performed to the lesion part
(bone-absorbed part) at 2 mm intervals. In the case of a lesion part with
its depth 18 mm, the one-shot irradiation is continuously performed to
the part at 2.0 mm intervals and 6 to 7 shot-irradiation is performed in
total. In the case of a lesion part with its depth 8 mm, the one-shot
irradiation is performed four times. In the case of a lesion part with 2
mm in diameter, the one-shot irradiation is performed once.

[0051] This treatment is completed after performing the irradiation once
to several times. The root canal is sealed by a filling after the
irradiation. Accordingly, a patient does not have to see a doctor many
times, that is, once is enough.

[0052] According to the treatment with the active needle electrode 1 of
the present invention, early bone regeneration is possible because of the
two reasons described below.

[0055] An effect of bone regeneration is described based on a treatment
example for which the alveolar bone regenerative apparatus of the present
invention is used.

(Treatment Condition)

[0056] The alveolar bone regenerative unit A of the present invention is
used for treatment to a patient who has a tooth with an intractable root
apex lesion whose clinical presentation cannot be remitted by an ordinary
endodontic treatment, and a tooth that cannot bear bite force because
absorption of an alveolar bone is serious.

(Results)

[0057] The table of FIG. 5 shows results of the treatment.

[0058] Initials of 42 participants in clinical trial are written in a name
column of the table. "Lesion" indicates a cavity caused by melting a bone
around a root and is classified according to a table below. Additionally,
reference character M indicates the number of months elapsed in the table
of FIG. 5. Each irradiation is performed with 500 kHz×1 sec and the
number of shots is derived from dividing a greatest diameter of Lesion by
2.

TABLE-US-00001
TABLE 1
Lesion classification
None: No lesion
Small: A diameter of the lesion is twice as large as a root diameter
of 2 mm on a root apex side or less.
Medium: A diameter of the lesion is twice to three times larger than
the root diameter of 2 mm on the root apex side.
Large: A diameter of the lesion is three times larger than the root
diameter of 2 mm on the root apex side or more.

[0059] As shown in FIG. 5, all cavities (Lesions) of the 42 participants
in clinical trial become smaller. Accordingly, the treatment is
effective.

[0060] FIG. 6 shows photographs showing an alveolar bone of the No. 38
patient in FIG. 5. The photograph on the left side shows a pre-operative
condition, while the photograph on the right side shows a post-operative
condition after 3 months. As is evident from FIG. 6, regeneration of the
alveolar bone is recognized around the root apex by 1.82 mm.